


The Promise

by EarthsickWithoutYou



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 19:15:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17106536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarthsickWithoutYou/pseuds/EarthsickWithoutYou
Summary: Takes place after The Originals series finale.  What if Klaus came back from the afterlife and sought Caroline out in Mystic Falls?





	The Promise

She felt him before she saw him. There was always something about his physical form looming in her periphery which was unlike anyone else…a menace rendered gentle and tamed, just for her. A tiny waft of bourbon, dried paint, and that spicy cologne that always drove her wild, though she’d never admit it to him in a million years.

Caroline’s breath caught in her throat and tears sprang into her eyes at the impossible sensation of his presence in her bedroom, just behind her. How! _How?_ How could this be happening? She closed her eyes and took in another gulp of fresh night air from the open window. Clutching the stem of her wine glass, she felt joy cascading over her whole being. 

Then she smiled wryly, blinking tears back from her gaze and staring out at stars she couldn’t see when her only focus was him. 

“You’re supposed to be dead,” she quipped.

He took a step closer and she could just bet he was clasping his hands together, rubbing them a little in that nervous way he did around her…only for her. But his stride was smooth and she turned to find him right outside her personal space, leveling her with that cheeky grin that made her want to grab him by the collar and devour his lips.

“Disappointed, love?” Klaus inquired, quirking a brow at her faux consternation when she faced him.

Setting her glass down, Caroline burst into laughter and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close. 

“Shut up,” she insisted, pushing back and taking him by the shoulders, examining him as if he might be a trick, a spell or delusion. Klaus responded compliantly to the demanding way she handled his body, the way she was grabbing at him, embracing him and steadying him as if he belonged to her. She couldn’t help herself, not now. Not after mourning him for months, unable to sleep most nights, soaking her pillow with tears. She hadn’t expected his death to hit her that way.

Lizzie and Josie had by now grown used to her inert fogs during the day, her delayed answers and the way she’d started leaving most of the curriculum planning to Ric. 

“I’m going to get over this,” she’d sniffed to her ex-fiancé earlier this very evening. “I mean, I know I’ve been out of it; I’ve been disorganized and irresponsible and everything that is just so totally not me. But I’m going to shake this off and get back on track, I promise.”

Alaric had regarded her with affectionate patience, a glimmer of gentle amusement in his eyes. “There are some things so complicated that not even Caroline Forbes can organize them,” he suggested. “And grief is one of them…believe me, I know. You’re not gonna grieve everyone the same way.”

Caroline had looked away, startled by his insight into her character. It was true, she hadn’t grieved Stefan like this. It had been different; Stefan was her husband. And their relationship had been so completely opposite to the one she had with Klaus…it was like comparing a sweet, gentle rain to a raging, addictive firestorm. Her sadness after Stefan’s death had been a slowly seeping wound gradually cauterized by time. She’d been able to throw herself into mothering the girls and running the school, and that had helped; she knew Stefan would be proud. She was proud of him for what he’d done in the end, even if it meant sacrificing their happiness together.

This was so different. Knowing Klaus was gone, she could barely function. And now he was here. She squinted at his bright blue eyes, his dependable scruffy stubble, his all-black attire. She swept her hands over his shoulders and felt the firm muscles of his arms, squeezing. 

“You _feel_ real,” she announced, and all the emotion rushed back in, not just surprise or happiness at their reunion, but the sensual thrill of being in his orbit and touching him, the giggle that bloomed in her throat at the playful smile twisting his beautiful lips, the fear of loving him that consumed her until she couldn’t admit how much she wanted to just…be with him.

Still unconvinced, she pulled her hands away from him and pinched her own arm, then flinched. She was awake, that much was certain. Klaus chuckled, but then she pinched him too and he scowled, batting her away. “Ouch!” he complained.

“You _are_ real!” she confirmed, and he nodded warily.

“Yes, love, I am. Though if you’re planning any further experiments to test the matter, I’d appreciate a warning next time.” His frown turned back up into a smile and she laughed, then went stern again, typical type-A Caroline back on duty.

“How?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her pale pink silk pajama top.

“Well, my sister Freya is a textbook example of Mikaelson stubbornness,” he explained fluidly. “She worked and worked these past months, with a little help from a very reluctant Vincent, until the two of them found a way to cast the dark magic within me into the same vile pit where evil-doers go after death. I was in the _other_ place, believe it or not, and since I had unfinished business, it was easy enough for Freya to reunite my soul and body. I woke up yesterday to find Hope holding my hand and all my living siblings, plus Marcel, Vincent and Keelin, hovering over me. It was all a bit startling and off-putting, but I’ve recovered nicely.”

“So _that’s_ why Hope went running back to New Orleans with no explanation,” Caroline breathed, “But wait — what about—”

“Elijah and Hayley found peace together on the other side,” Klaus elaborated, happiness for them beaming from his face. “They didn’t feel that same lack of resolution that kept me restless in the afterlife. I could never calm down, couldn’t accept where I was or that my life was truly over. That panicked sense of unbelonging even in that place of exquisitely perfect serenity was what let Freya connect with my wayward soul and bring me back.”

“W-why couldn’t you find peace?” Caroline asked anxiously, prompting him to gingerly finger the collar of her shirt, then lightly tousle the lock of shiny blonde hair which had fallen across her clavicle. For this moment there was nothing but the two of them, the matching lamps on her bedside tables casting a rosy sheen over the reunited lovers, the crisp fall air wafting in through the window a little more cooly this time. Impervious to the cold, still she shivered and looked at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed, helpless with desire. How could he still do this to her, make her weak in the knees?

“I couldn’t accept that I’d never see you again,” he confessed easily, “I knew Hope would be looked after, I knew she’d be cared for and loved, but you, Caroline…I made you more than one promise in the past. Yes, there was the promise of showing you New Orleans, but do you remember the other one?”

“I do,” she blurted helplessly, terrified by the force of her emotions. “You said you would be my last love.”

He ran his finger down her throat, his expression thoughtful. “I don’t intend to break that vow, Caroline.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” she interjected, a mess of jumbled nerves. She stepped away from him so she could think straight and began pacing the room, gesticulating wildly as she ranted.

“You’re saying you came back from the dead for me? How is that possible, what does that mean?”

“Well, I had help,” Klaus added, watching her with that same old look he got when she was being feisty. He didn’t just tolerate her sassiness; he seemed to thrive on it. No one pushed Klaus Mikaelson around and lived to tell the tale, but when Caroline gave him attitude, he melted.

“But why — how — what do you think is gonna happen now, Klaus? That I’m just gonna — and _you’re_ gonna — I don’t even know! I have a life here, a good one, and as over the moon as I am that you’re back, you can’t just expect that…what do you expect?” She stopped waving her hands around and halted her pacing, staring at him beseechingly. _What do I want him to say? Why am I so scared of how I feel?_

“If I’m interpreting that lovely tirade properly, I think I knew the answer to your question,” he suggested with debonair confidence, but she saw through him. He was definitely nervous, too. The tension faded slightly from her face and she gave him a sweet smile, falling into his eyes too easily.

“I’m listening,” she offered tartly, eyes glittering with affection.

“It’s quite simple, Caroline,” Klaus explained, far too mischievously for her to doubt he was completely serious. “I’m here to be your boyfriend.”


End file.
